LONG BEFORE I UNDERSTOOD PERFORMANCE, I STRUGGLED WITH MY OWN.
I've spent around four decades in motocross. But the experiences that shaped me most weren't necessarily the races I won or the riders I helped win championships. Some of the biggest lessons came from the things I struggled with myself.
READ MY STORY ↓I COULD WIN RACES. I COULDN'T ALWAYS CONTROL MY NERVES.
As a child racing motocross, I struggled with adrenaline and serious nerves in competition. Even on days when I was winning, I could feel completely overwhelmed.
At times, those nerves crippled my performance. It was frustrating for me, and frustrating for my parents, because what I was capable of doing and what I could actually deliver on race day didn't always match.
I eventually learned to manage those feelings. But it wasn't until I was much older that I fully understood what had been happening — and how much my reactions could be influenced by the people and environment around me.
FOR YEARS, I THOUGHT BEING SELF-TAUGHT WAS A STRENGTH.
I took real pride in working things out for myself. I thought that being self-taught made me a better rider.
It wasn't until my early twenties, when I finally met the mentor and coach who changed my understanding of riding, that I realised how much that independence had also held me back.
He could see the smallest corrections in my technique — things I'd never noticed — and those small changes could make the biggest difference. It opened my eyes to the myth of natural talent, and to how much of what looks effortless from the outside is actually learned.
For the first time, I began to see just how valuable the right pair of eyes could be.
THE RIDERS I CONNECTED WITH OFTEN REMINDED ME OF MYSELF.
When I began coaching, I seemed to attract the nervous, sensitive riders. The overthinkers. The ones who could ride brilliantly in one situation and struggle to show the same ability in another.
In many of them, I recognised the younger version of myself.
They didn't always respond to the drill-sergeant approach. They didn't necessarily need to be pushed harder or told the same thing more loudly. Often, they needed someone to understand what they were experiencing and find a different way to reach them.
Some parents came to know me as “the confidence guy.” At the same time, I was deeply interested in technical riding, using slow-motion video and frame-by-frame analysis to understand where a rider was losing time or making unnecessary corrections.
Looking back, those two interests — what a rider was doing on the bike, and what was happening inside the rider — were never really separate.
RACING ENDED. MY JOURNEY IN MOTOCROSS DIDN'T.
By my mid-twenties, I was working as an assistant coach with Mervyn Anstie and gaining experience around European youth racing. Slovenia in 2006 was one of my first experiences at that level, followed by more European and World Junior events.
Then, at 28, a pulmonary embolism brought my own racing career to an end.
It wasn't the ending I'd imagined. But I stayed in motocross and continued working with riders, increasingly focused on their development rather than my own racing.
Coaching took me through British, European and World Junior competition and eventually to the United States, where I managed a motocross training base in Florida.
EIGHT RIDERS. ONE WORLD JUNIOR TEAM.
In 2015, eight of the twelve riders selected to represent Great Britain at the Junior World Championship in Spain came from my academy. Team GB finished second in the team standings.
It was a proud moment — not simply because of the result, but because of the journeys those riders had taken to get there.
THE EXPERIENCES ADDED UP TO SOMETHING BIGGER.
Over the years, I learned that a rider's performance can be influenced by far more than their speed. Technique matters. So do confidence, preparation, decision-making, pressure and the people around them.
That understanding gradually became MotoMind.
My work has evolved from being physically trackside with riders to also working remotely with athletes around the world, with in-person support when it makes sense. I hold coaching credentials through the United States Motorcycle Coaching Association, and I've written books including The Inner Circuit, Under Pressure and Arm Pump in Motocross.
But the reason behind the work hasn't changed much. I still remember what it felt like to have ability I couldn't always access — and what changed when someone finally helped me see things differently.
THE JOURNEY, AT A GLANCE.
European youth racing
Early coaching work with Mervyn Anstie and involvement in European and World Junior racing.
World Junior Championships
Eight of twelve Team GB riders selected from my academy; Great Britain finished second in the team standings.
Britain, Europe & the USA
Rider development across multiple racing environments, including a motocross training base in Florida.
I'M STILL LEARNING.
STILL OBSERVING.
STILL ASKING WHY.
My story explains why I care so much about understanding the individual rider. If you'd like to know what that looks like in practice, the next page explains how I work.